One of the best things about France is its movie theaters. Seeing a movie in France always seems like a treat compared to going to see a flick in the US. First there is the student discount. How much does that rock? Except that it doesn't apply Saturday's and Sundays, which stinks, but hey, 5/7ain't half bad. Then you walk in and sit in THE MOST COMFORTABLE CHAIRS KNOWN TO MAN. I'm not kidding, they are huge and plush and oh so comfy and you just want to melt into them. And I'm not kidding when I say they are huge. No shoving yourself into replicas of those tiny auditorium seats you swore only existed in high school and large university lecture hall. The French movie theater is equiped with seats that could fit at least 1.5 normal people in them and big enough for a small child to sleep in comfortably. I melt in these chairs. Then you get to sit and watch a good movie.
I went and saw In the Mood For Love, a wonderful Chinese movie last night. I highly recommend it. It was a great love story about two people who discover their spouses are having an affair. Most of it takes place in Hong Kong in the 1960s, which was interesting as well. I love how many foreign films the French get at their movie theaters. It is not as though the French are lacking in domestic releases, but they still seem to have a great appreciation for foreign films, an appreciation that I think more Americans need to pick up. You know, I bet Americans wouldn't be accused of being so uncultured if we had a market for foreign films, as well as foreign music (that's another post in itself).
So, conclusion for today: movie theaters in France rock and we Americans all have a lot to learn about comfortable cinema seating

Oh, I should note that while my messages may come off as being anti-french in some way I do truely love this country and the people who live in it, I just find them to be some of the strangest and most interesting people on earth.

While I know that this has been a topic of conversation for the last few months amongst my friends and I here in Aix, I feel the need to bring it up with you fine folks reading this. What is up with the French and their need to use 4 different colors of highlighters, two different pens, white-out, and a ruler when taking notes in class? I was sitting behind a girl today in class that, and I kid you not, had 3 different highlighters, two different pens and a ruler all just to take notes. Does this seem excessive to anyone else? Why can't they just take notes with one pen like the rest of the world (or is the US in the minority here?) I have tried taking notes with so many utensils and found it extremely hard to keep up with the prof, who has no concept of speaking slowly so that we can get all the information, and not only that, there gets to be so many colors that they begin to lose their significance. Then there is the issue of the stylo plume, or fountain pen, which apparently is extremely necessary in French culture if you want anyone to take you seriously. Francois, our almost snobbish French tutor who seems to suffer from the love/hate relationship of americans and our culture found so prevelant in France today, told us a few months ago that no one, I mean NO ONE, can be taken seriously using a ball-point pen. The French will laugh you out of the boardroom if you dare to use one. Could this be true? Forget everything I have ever learned, all I need in life to be taken seriously is a fountain pen? If only it were that easy. Of course, all the French need is a fountain pen, as an American you are required to have much more, the fountain pen is merely getting your foot in the door.
So, conclusion of the day: buy stock in the French national highlighter company and start using that fountain pen whenever I feel I'm just not being taken seriously enough.

Hello everyone and bienvenue! I started this site so that you can all hear about the awesome year I am having here in Aix-en-Provence, France. I hope to let you know all the little tidbits I love about the French, and all of the little tidbits I can't stand. Hopefully this will give you an glimpse into life in France and answer some of your questions about this awesome country like "how many cheeses do they really over there (a lot)," "do they all walk around wearing berets (hee, hee, thank god no)," and "what's up with their lack of deoderant (still not sure)?" So, if you have any questions you wish to be adressed, let me know and I'll get to them.
I went to the grocery store today a couple blocks from the apartment and attempted to use a VISA card to pay for my groceries. Let me just say I have never seen the usage of a credit card as such a hassel. The man working had absolutely no idea what he was doing. He tried to slide it through the machine everyway but the right way, including using the left and right side, as that is how french cards work, until he finally had to call someone to come down to the store and show him how to slide the card through the machine. While normally this would annoy me, it is kind of nice to be in a society where people still deal in hard currency and the credit card doesn't pay for everything. At the same time, the French are real sticklers for exact change. They get very upset with you if you try to pay for something that costs 10 FF ($1.50) with a 100 FF bill ($15). The concept of making change appears to be beyond them sometimes. Then when they finally give you change they give you all the coins they don't want, in denominations so small a machine won't even take them for a Coke. But hey, that gives you good change for the market!
Hey all you out there let me know how it is going and what you think!

Ok, here is the first posting just to get it all rolling! there is more to come!